Gavvalu

Dough rolled on a ridged tool so each piece curls into a cowrie shell.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee), dairy (whole milk).

Ingredients

• 400 g maida, plain white flour
• 3 tablespoons ghee, for the dough
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• about 150 ml whole milk
• 300 g jaggery, grated
• 150 ml water, for the syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• oil for deep frying

Method

1. DOUGH IS ROLLED ON A RIDGED TOOL SO EACH PIECE CURLS INTO A COWRIE SHELL. Its article describes the shaping and nothing else, because the shaping is the dish: it is A MIXTURE (DOUGH) OF MAIDA AND WATER OR MILK, and THE PREPARED DOUGH IS SHAPED INTO SMALL ROUNDS, WHICH ARE FLATTENED AND ROLLED (ON A SPECIAL TOOL) SO AS TO TAKE THE SHAPE OF GAVVALU (COWRIE SHELLS). THESE SHELLS ARE FRIED IN OIL OR GHEE AND SOAKED IN SUGAR OR JAGGERY SYRUP.
2. THE TOOL IS A RIDGED BOARD AND THE BACK OF A FORK WILL DO. A gavvalu board is a small wooden plate with parallel grooves. Press a pellet of dough along the grooves with your thumb and it curls round itself, ridged on the outside and hollow inside. The ridges are what hold the syrup.
3. MILK RATHER THAN WATER, WHICH THE ARTICLE ALLOWS AND IS THE BETTER CHOICE. It makes a shell that stays crisp under syrup for longer.
4. RUB THE GHEE IN AND MAKE THE DOUGH STIFF. Three tablespoons into four hundred grams, then as little milk as it takes. A slack dough will not hold the ridges.
5. REST IT TWENTY MINUTES, THEN SHAPE THEM ALL BEFORE YOU FRY ANY. Thirty or forty shells. This is slow work and it cannot be done with hot oil waiting.
6. FRY THEM AT A LOW TO MEDIUM HEAT UNTIL PALE GOLD. Six or seven minutes a batch. They have to dry right through or they soften the moment the syrup touches them.
7. THE SYRUP IS JAGGERY TAKEN TO A SOFT BALL, NOT A THREAD. Melted, strained, boiled to about 115C. At one thread it soaks in and the shells go limp; a shade harder and it sets on the outside as a crust.
8. TOSS THEM IN THE SYRUP OFF THE HEAT AND SPREAD THEM TO SET. Separate them as they cool or they weld into a block. In a tin they keep a fortnight.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes